Bridging the generations

Its been a busy few weeks and also a few weeks full of germs, as is always the way this time of year. But we have rounded off an amazing eight months with a remembrance service at the memorial garden at St.Stephens, at the top of the school road. Yes you did read correctly - it is only eight months since we started on our adventure and we are amazed by what we have achieved. I am going to do a round up of the projects that we have completed and what we have in store in the next blog post.

It's been quite sad watching all the beautiful colour's that have appeared in the school garden slowly disappear. Seeing the oranges and browns of autumn take over, is both magical but somehow very final. This time of year I feel is fitting for remembrance day. The cold, crispness of autumn always seems fitting for such an occasion. And at 1 o'clock on the 13th of November the children walked up the hill to meet up with the British Legion representatives and pay their respects. Maybe I'm a little old school, but it gives me a really happy, warm feeling inside to see generations interact. From our tiniest representative Grace, to the head boy and girl it was lovely to see them look proud to be there. Of course you know about the memorial and how we have given it a face lift, but what about the people its for? What about the wonderful proud people who come along on that cold, sunny Monday and stood side by side the children - I couldn't help wonder what their stories were.

I spoke to Jeff Curd - He is the Chairman in Buckhurst Hill. This is his story......

My story is that my grandfather served in WW1 in the KRRC (Kings Royal Rifle Corps) he joined in 1912 and went to France in 1914 , he took part in various battles but was shot by machine gun in 1915 at Festubert as part of the Loos campaign , he survived but had to have his left leg amputated below the knee , but he survive and by him surviving it meant my father was born and me and my children unlike so many , I always wear his medals in remembrance every year .

My uncle was in the desert rats and fought in north Africa at El Alamein then onto Monte Casino and just after that he was captured and spent the rest of the war as a POW.

My father was in the Royal Signals as part of national service and I joined the Territorial Army Royal Signals 71st Signal Regiment as part of 68 squadron, the Inns of Court in 1980 and served until 1990. During this time I got the opportunity to do lots of things like parachuting , helicopters , tanks , armoured personnel carriers and rigid raiders with the royal marines so I really enjoyed my time serving and I also met my wife Janice who served in the same regiment and we are fortunate to still keep our contacts today and attend the remembrance service at the Inns of Court every year. I am privileged to be the Chairman of the Royal British Legion in Buckhurst Hill . My latest adventure was to fly in a Spitfire which had always been a childhood dream .

Jeff Curd - chairman RBL

Jeff kindly sent me some photographs of these amazing men. 

The first is my Grandad circa 1914 

The second is my Grandad in the Hospital in Rochester Kent 

The third is my Dad Circa 1954 bottom right second one in on chair

The 4th is me Circa 1984 

And if you go onto You Tube and type in Jeff Curd you will see the Spitfire video 6 mins .

You would think that our children would have nothing in common with these people, but we were in for a surprise. I asked the children from gardening club if they had a stories about Grandpas, Uncles, Aunties. If there were any stories that they could share at the service. 

Joe had an amazing story......

My Great, Great Grandad, Arthur Leverett Cove, was killed in action on the 30th September 1915 at The Battle of Loos, France, during the First World War. He was known as whitehead because of his blonde hair just like mine.       Joe, aged 7. 

My Daughter shared the story of my wonderful Grandad. 

This is my Great, Grandad Albert. He was in the second world war. He was in Egypt. He came home to his family safe. We remember the soldiers that didn't come home.   Mindy, aged 7.

It was lovely to share just half an hour bridging the generations. Seeing that actually, they have more in common with each other than they realized. 

 see our video at - https://animoto.com/play/GlNymfhH1s0zCBesQKbwdw

Would you mind voting for us :0)

We are busy getting the hub sorted and planning our stall at the Christmas market at Queens road on the 1st December as well as the Christmas fayre at school on the 15th December - after school. Phew!!! Still we have our eye on the next project.

Our SEN garden will be a sensory and stimulating garden that will be an area for ALL children when they just want some quiet time. As always, we are looking for ways to do the very best job and your vote for our project at the Aviva community awards will help us to create a unique and special place.

If you can spare two minutes to vote for our project - thank you so much.
Here is the link ........

https://www.avivacommunityfund.co.uk/voting/project/view/17-1057

Happy voting! And a massive thank you.

A reason why - An update

So this week has been really busy. As I said in the previous post, the memorial garden is ready to go. The weekend saw the base for the hub being started. Whilst sitting looking at what we had done I realized that that what we, as a team had achieved was pretty amazing. We've only being doing things since February 2017. Our list of jobs completed is impressive and our ideas for future plans, makes me smile.

Reading back over the blog, this was the one for me, that made me realize that superheros are usually disguised as just ordinary people!

To the wonderful woman that are my 'Welly Wizards'.........thank you x

Life's a funny old thing. We spend every moment of every day making choices. Some choices are important, some make no difference other than they make you, as an individual happy.
So why did I choose to do something about the brick planter thing?
If I'm honest I really don't know. Like I've said before, it bugged me. Not really important is it?
It did make me think why we do these things?
So I then asked the 'gardening gang' why they got involved and it was interesting to see why people like to do things. So I thought i'd share our reasons with you.
Angie summed it up quite simply. She and her son Harry like being outside. They love learning about plants and wildlife and the environment and getting our hands dirty.
Theresa said "I am not green fingered at all, but grew up with beautiful gardens to play in as my mum is very green fingered and lives for her gardening, but clearly hasn't passed it onto me!!. However, I am more than willing to help with whatever I can and support a fantastic cause for our school and our children. You don't need to be the best gardener to help out, there are plenty of other things to do and it is a lovely social group"
Alison has two older children that have moved on from the school but what was fascinating was that her daughter was one of the children that made the bricks to build the brick planter thing. She said " my daughters year made the kiln that sparked Mandy imagination. Seeing her enthusiasm and creativity has inspired me to get involved. The school grounds have never looked so nice. I may not like getting my hands dirty but there are lots of things to get involved with and I'm hoping my youngest will learn a thing or two!"
Rachel: I liked the fact it's good to volunteer to help the school and the surrounding area.   It is so lovely seeing the school grounds  improve with just a few parents giving up there time.  What a difference it has made.  I have had so many parents complement the school grounds.  Also good for the kids to see you don't need to spend money to help or make money you just do it to be nice.  I enjoy the Wednesday gardening club as it is so lovely to see the children learn above plants and how important it is.
Sarah:Initially, over coffee one morning Mandy ran an idea past me about a gardening club that she was thinking about starting and asked me what I thought. I told her it was a great idea.
When she asked around for volunteers to help I thought that it really wasn't for me. I hate getting dirty and I'm not green fingered at all – in fact I have a tendency to kill any of the house plants that I've owned!! However, Mandy is a friend and I felt that I should support her – especially after encouraging her to set it all up! So we turned up in the holidays and my children absolutely loved getting filthy and playing with their friends and I enjoyed meeting other mum's and dad's whilst doing the odd job. I've found that it becomes addictive and the nicer the gardens look the more you want to do! I've amazed myself at how happy I've been to walk around covered in dirt, paint or soaking wet! The biggest joy is seeing how enthusiastic the children are with the project and getting involved.
Claire said, I like the fact that I can take my toddler along. I'd love to volunteer to read or go on trips but it's always a problem with a little one, so this ticks all the boxes and I quite like gardening !
And me? Why did this feel like something I wanted to do? Well I have probably different reasons than most and I'm going to put it right out there!
And me.......
Over the last six years I've battled a constant round of health issues. One thing, literally, after another. Everything I've been diagnosed with is 'untreatable', which means there are a shed load of tablets to take, but none of it will go away. Its just a case of management. Learning how to keep it all on a balance! With this constant round of doctors appointment, hospital appointment and tests and scans and other intrusive procedures, comes depression. Days when you ask yourself, 'Is this it?', 'Is this what its always going to be like'? And when you don't have a definite answer you can find yourself feeling very alone and isolated. I just didn't want it to stop me doing something constructive, which is probably why the brick planter thing (this will be what its referred to forever now) seemed like a manageable project. Bulbs. A bag of bulbs would be all it took. Of course its grown, no pun meant there, into something wonderfully exciting. So has being involved cured the depression, cured the symptoms of the my unpleasant illnesses? NO!. No it hasn't but you know its true what they say. Laughter, really is the best medicine. On a bad day or week all I have to say is 'I'm not up to it'. No one questions me, no one holds me to account for what needs to be done. And my lovely gardening gang friends just ask how I am, if I need anything, if there's anything I need doing.  And on a good day, I do something  that makes a difference. To the children that smile as they walk past the minion planters. To the teachers who have a brighter area to sit and eat lunch. To the reception children that have a lovely fake grass area in their playground to just lay and chill.
I've made lovely friends. I've achieved something.

This was the memorial garden before 

After. 

 And of course........the original planter. 

Lest we forget

I wonder what your average 7 year old thinks about Remembrance Day ?
When I ask my little one, she says it's to do with the war.
She isn't wrong, but I'm not sure that most children really understand what it means to 'remember them'.

Sadly the understanding of "what was given by so few for so many" seems long gone. Maybe that is because this generation, except for a few, probably don't actual know anyone who was in the second world war. My Grandad was. His brother was. I was always very aware that they were the men that went and fought for their country. My country.  Although, war is war, maybe children see war differently these days. With media playing such a big part in how we see and understand modern day conflicts, maybe children have become slightly removed.

So how do you bridge that gap? How do you make them, remember them ?

Our latest project is one I think is so important in the busy, consumed world we all live in. We were asked by the local British Legion if we would like to look after the little memorial garden at the top of road from the school.
We have been planning it for some time, and the trouble with time is that it runs away with itself! But with November just weeks away, we decided that everything else had to stop and for a week. We had to concentrate on this small patch and make it a fitting memorial for all the men and woman that are lost fighting in the name of our country.

This was how it looked a couple of months ago. Bind weed had taken over the back and weeds had rooted themselves in the paving stones.
The question now was what to do and how to involve the children? We know we have to set all our projects up so we know they are safe for the children to get involved in. So where to start?
Like all things we do, we start off with a plan and then simply rearrange it until we think that looks nice. So there was a plan. We juggled it. The result we think is fitting. A place we hope people will stop and reflect every day not just remembrance day.

Gone are the weeds and in its place artificial grass that we felt represented all the battle fields where wars were fought. Simple boxes for bright plants to add some colour. Angie and her magic paintbrush took Alison's idea of poppies and combined the two.
So now we just have to get the children involved. The plan is that the children from gardening club will maintain the flower beds and look after what is growing there. We have a big bag of bulbs which we will get them to plant so that in the spring the planters will have daffodils blowing about in the breeze.

Its odd how a few days and the muscles of Rachel, the ideas of Alison and Angie and her paint brush can turn a area into something important again. Our war memorial's shouldn't just blend into their surroundings. They should stand out and make us think.

This remembrance day, as always I will think of my Granddad.
Of our trips to the cenotaph on a chilly November day.
The silence and the memories, of those both past and present.
Those who came home.
 Remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice and didn't make it back.

We hope that people will feel its somewhere to go and remember their love ones no longer with them and lets hope that it will make the children that pass it everyday to school stop and think...........We Will Remember Them.

As always a massive thank you to Easigrass, Wickes - Langstone Road and Wyevale Garden Centre.

On our Twitter page & Facebook page - The welly wizards - there are more photo's of the project and how it came along.

Minions do travel !

Now we are back into the swing of things and a little bit more settled we've been ticking jobs off the list. The children have re planted the front planter ready for the Autumn. The ink cartridge recycling project is now in full swing. The Wednesday gardening club are incharge of this project and are doing a fabulous job. The memorial garden has been weeded and we have dug up the weeds in between the paving stones. In the next few days the flower beds will be put in space and then the artificial grass put down. Angie has finished painting the new tyre minions at the Noah's ark pre-school. Two friendly faces all ready for the children to plant up. So now our minions have friends at the end of the road.

Next on our list is the garden hub. So they next few weeks should bring about amazing changes both at school and the community around.

The pre schools new friends :0)

In the next week or so we aim to change the look of the memorial garden. 

You can follow us on Twitter and Facebook - the welly wizards 

Time just flys by !

It's already October - honestly it is! I'm not too sure how that happened to be honest.
There we were doing a few jobs over the summer holidays and well, now we are watching the leaves float down from the branches and the nights draw in.

The question is what have we achieved since we broke up in July?

Well smiley the wild is now placed in his forever home - mind you he is headless!
We've painted. Made dull walls look brighter.
We've tidied up the side court yard.
Brian has built the most beautiful new play desk area for reception.
Mrs Muir has a lovely patio with a blaze of pink flowers.

So we have been getting some jobs done. But there are lots more projects that we need to do.

For the Autumn and winter months we have the following projects planned and we really need your help if you can help in any way at all.

Number one project - the gardening hub.
First of all we need to get the hub put together so the children have somewhere to go during the winter months. The hub will be used by everyone in the school. It wil be a place for teachers to teach the children science and nature studies. So it's something we are all excited about.

Number two project - the SEN garden.
We are blessed to have such wonderful grounds. There is an area that houses a small unused pond and is a bit overgrown. The children at gardening club have come up with some wonderful ideas for this area, to turn it into a tranquil, calm and wonderful sensory garden that will be known as the smile garden.

Number three project - the memorial garden.
We will be starting to spruce up the memorial garden at the top of lower queens road next week. A wonderful project that brings the generations together. The children and really excited to be part of this.

Because we are a self funded group we are always looking for ways to raise money.
Our latest money raiser is by recycling ink cartridges. If you have any old ink cartridges or work for a company that doesn't already recycle we would love to have your old cartridges. Please contact us to arrange boxes and collection.

If you would like to help us by being a sponsor for any of these projects your support is always welcome. Maybe you could help us get a bench for the memorial garden or flooring for the hub. Any help however big or small is always welcome.

Now we are back in the swing of things we will keep you a bit more updates on how all these projects are progressing.

Smileys adventures at Hampton court palace

What an amazing couple of weeks it had been. I never envisaged how exciting entering a scarecrow competition could be!
If I had to sum it all up in three words I would say.....hectic .........stressful..........exciting.
Not necessarily in that order. It's been an amazing adventure and I think it's fair to say we can't wait for next years competitions.

Let me fill you in on some of the exciting details.
So our week started with the magic that was bringing smiley to life. Now when I say life, I don't mean breathing, heart beating, living sort of life of course, simply taking him from paper to free standing (ish).

The question is of course, how many people does it take to make a scarecrow?
I guess the answer has to be - as many as possible.

The pitfalls when making a scarecrow are many! I mean I didn't think how the arm would bend so I could get the second sleeve onto the wooden frame. I mean wood doesn't bend! I only realised this once the cross frame was glued and screwed together! No worries a sharp knife and lots of safety pins later and the shirt fitted perfectly. Then there was the question of how wide should his gutter hips be? Should they be loose in the trousers or tight? These are questions you don't think you'd be asking yourself I can tell you. After a long, long day and a team of five or six people, he was there. Waiting and ready for his audience at Hampton Court flower show.
I would like to point out that this was the easy part. We then had to transport him to Hampton court with fingers, legs and anything else crossed that he would get there in one piece!
How difficult would it be? If I could transport a drunken, elderly uncle home surely I could get a scarecrow to a field?
Let's just say that we didn't think it would cause so many problems getting a scarecrow into a car! After two hours of pulling, pushing and poking he was finally in.
Check list - fire, tick - tin cans - tick - dynamite, tick - barrel, tick - bird feeder - tick.
They weren't the only items on the list - it was then we realised there was a lot more to take than we thought. But we got it all in and we were off.
Quiet a strange view when I looked in my mirror, I'm sure there were many people who drove past thinking they were seeing things.
We had a scarecrow and he needed to get to his palace!

It took about 3 hours to assemble him. Yes THREE hours, remember this wont you, but he was there ready for his public. So Smileys new home would be a very royal affair for the week and I have to say he was in amazing company. 

We didn't want to leave Smiley all week (obviously we had become very attached to him) so we visited him on press day - and if we thought up until then had been exciting, we really didn't have a clue!

Celeb spotting wasn't something we had bargained on, but boy was it fun. The children were besides themselves every time we spotted someone famous. Has to be said that in our excitement some people who were just going about their day became famous in our eyes, even if they weren't.  

Its a funny thing when you meet these people off the television. They are just like you and me. Honestly, they are. The first celeb we spotted was the lovely Penny Lancaster. Now I have to say something here and now. In the flesh this woman is beyond beautiful. I was taken aback by her absolute beauty. Stunningly, radiantly  beautiful. And so lovely. I mean there she was minding her own business looking at some flowers when a mad woman pounces (not literally you understand) on her to have a photograph with a bunch of kids shes never met before. She smiled and chatted and was just adorable. I am slightly in love with her to be honest! Then we met Joel Dommett, another lovely man who signed autographs, let them have photos taken and chatted with the kids and asked them questions and made their day. I very excitedly spotted the wonderful Jane Moore, all these loose women out and about - and she was just wonderful. Taking the time to talk to the children and having photos taken. Yet again, someone who when you see her in the flesh is just so beautiful and so elegant. 

I should point out that we did take in the meaning of this wonderful show. Our first port of call was the butterfly dome, which was hot but surreal. All those stunning butterfly's big and small just flying free. Landing on the children, just flying about. I have to congratulate the RHS for including this as its not something you get to experience every day. Then we went on to wander through and see the lovely gardens that were built. Some we understood, others, well lets just say they must have a very deep meaning!

After encountering a crossing on a pontoon - the children thought that was really exciting- we finally arrived at the lovely scarecrow area. The three hours it took to put him in place and the hours spent working out whether this was right or that was right, was worth every second just to see their faces. They were there. He was there and I have to say I was quite overwhelmed with pride. There were of course other groups of children who were just as excited. To the RHS I can only say one thing and that is thank you. Thank you for having this wonderful campaign that aims to get children looking at gardens and wildlife and their world around them. Thank you for giving them and us the opportunity to get involved in a major public event. Thank you for allowing us to make brilliant memories with them. We were all a little bit giddy and caught up in the excitement when a very familiar face appeared! Mr Ben Shepherd, yes he off of this breakfast t.v show and tipping point (can you tell how I spend my afternoons?) was four foot away and I had this desperate urge to grab him, which I have to say was a bit of a worry. But he smiled and we asked politely if the children could have a photo and it turned out that he was a local boy and he placed his penny vote (all 100 pennies) in our box. He was wonderful having pictures taken, giving autographs asking questions and chatting. Again, another poor soul who just really wanted to pop along and see some flowers and had now been accosted but all the groups that were around the scarecrow area. Ben, thank you for your vote and for just being so lovely with the kids.

Its funny how when you find yourself in that sort of excitable, frenzied atmosphere, time flies by. So after some exploring at the RHS family fun area and some stamp hunting under and humongous wicker ant we started to make our way back. 

My daughter wanted to see Tim Peake but I had to embroider the truth and say he was planning another mission! I wanted to bump into David Walliams, but alas it was not to be. The nations Grandma was there though and the children got a chance to talk to Mary Berry and as we nearly reached the finishing point they spotted the ever smiley and beautiful Lisa Snowden. As much as we had invaded these lovely peoples privacy I have to say I was extremal proud of all the children who when I ask "What do we say"?, they literally sang back "Thank you". 

Did we win? No we didn't, but it was one amazing journey, for the children, for us and for the school. I can't wait for next year or indeed the next competition. 

Oh and you know it took three hours to put him together to display. 35 minutes to take him down! What more can I say?

Where is he now? He is being given a forever home in a a corner at school for everyone to see every single day. To be fair, he does need a little work done but he will soon be back to he royal glory. 

 

 

 

Thank you as always to David at Wyevale Enfield- for your constant support for this and all our projects.

Hampton court flower show

So this blog is going to be in two parts - before and after !

It's been a mad week for the welly wizards. Decisions like would a bottle top be better for a nose than a champagne cork? How many flower pots to put on a belt? The list of questions has been endless.
Oh sorry, you won't know what I'm talking about will you? I have told anyone else who has ears that we are through to the finals at Hampton court palace flower show. The children's competition "a walk in the wild side" has stirred imaginations like you'd never believe!

At the beginning of the year we put out a competition to the whole school from the RHS to design a scarecrow with the walk on a wild side theme. Have to say we didn't get that many entrants but what we did get was brilliant. We took different elements from different drawings and created Smiley.

This week we have all been working like mad to take smiley from paper to pole, as it were.

It's been funny how the smallest of details have caused the most angst!

I'm writing this on Friday morning - so far I've been up since 4.30 am and have laminated all the posters to go on the display, made the children's name badges, put the adult packs together with maps and details of where we are going and what we are doing. I have boxes and boxes in my hall of 'stuff' that I'm sure we will need. So all that needs to happen now is that we put the main man together and then delivery him safely on Sunday.

How hard can that be? All I can say is watch this space!


Follow our adventure on Twitter @thewellywizards or on Facebook at The Welly Wizards.

Why get involved when you really dont have to!

Life's a funny old thing. We spend every moment of every day making choices. Some choices are important, some make no difference other than they make you, as an individual happy.
So why did I choose to do something about the brick planter thing?
If I'm honest I really don't know. Like I've said before, it bugged me. Not really important is it?
It did make me think why we do these things?
So I then asked the 'gardening gang' why they got involved and it was interesting to see why people like to do things. So I thought i'd share our reasons with you.
Angie summed it up quite simply. She and her son Harry like being outside. They love learning about plants and wildlife and the environment and getting our hands dirty.
Theresa said "I am not green fingered at all, but grew up with beautiful gardens to play in as my mum is very green fingered and lives for her gardening, but clearly hasn't passed it onto me!!. However, I am more than willing to help with whatever I can and support a fantastic cause for our school and our children. You don't need to be the best gardener to help out, there are plenty of other things to do and it is a lovely social group"
Alison has two older children that have moved on from the school but what was fascinating was that her daughter was one of the children that made the bricks to build the brick planter thing. She said " my daughters year made the kiln that sparked Mandy imagination. Seeing her enthusiasm and creativity has inspired me to get involved. The school grounds have never looked so nice. I may not like getting my hands dirty but there are lots of things to get involved with and I'm hoping my youngest will learn a thing or two!"
Rachel: I liked the fact it's good to volunteer to help the school and the surrounding area.   It is so lovely seeing the school grounds  improve with just a few parents giving up there time.  What a difference it has made.  I have had so many parents complement the school grounds.  Also good for the kids to see you don't need to spend money to help or make money you just do it to be nice.  I enjoy the Wednesday gardening club as it is so lovely to see the children learn above plants and how important it is.
Sarah:Initially, over coffee one morning Mandy ran an idea past me about a gardening club that she was thinking about starting and asked me what I thought. I told her it was a great idea.
When she asked around for volunteers to help I thought that it really wasn't for me. I hate getting dirty and I'm not green fingered at all – in fact I have a tendency to kill any of the house plants that I've owned!! However, Mandy is a friend and I felt that I should support her – especially after encouraging her to set it all up! So we turned up in the holidays and my children absolutely loved getting filthy and playing with their friends and I enjoyed meeting other mum's and dad's whilst doing the odd job. I've found that it becomes addictive and the nicer the gardens look the more you want to do! I've amazed myself at how happy I've been to walk around covered in dirt, paint or soaking wet! The biggest joy is seeing how enthusiastic the children are with the project and getting involved.
Claire said, I like the fact that I can take my toddler along. I'd love to volunteer to read or go on trips but it's always a problem with a little one, so this ticks all the boxes and I quite like gardening !
And me? Why did this feel like something I wanted to do? Well I have probably different reasons than most and I'm going to put it right out there!
Over the last six years I've battled a constant round of health issues. One thing, literally, after another. Everything I've been diagnosed with is 'untreatable', which means there are a shed load of tablets to take but none of it will go away. Its just a case of management. Learning how to keep it all on a balance! With this constant round of doctors appointment, hospital appointment and tests and scans and other intrusive procedures comes depression. Days when you ask yourself 'is this it?' 'is this what its always going to be like'? And when you don't have a definite answer you can find yourself feeling very alone and isolated. I just did t want it to stop me doing something constructive, which is probably why the brick planter thing (this will be what its referred to forever now) seemed like a manageable project. Bulbs. A bag of bulbs would be all it took. Of course its grown, no pun meant there, into something wonderfully exciting. So has being involved cured the depression, cured the symptoms of the my unpleasant illnesses. NO!. No it hasn't but you know its true what they say. Laughter, really is the best medicine. On a bad day or week all I have to say is 'I'm not up to it'. No one questions me, no one holds me to account for what needs to be done. And my lovely gardening gang friends just ask how I am, if I need anything, if there's anything I need doing.  And on a good day, I do aomething  that makes a difference. To the children that smile as they walk past the minion planters. To the teachers who have a brighter area to sit and eat lunch. To the reception children that have a lovely fake grass area in their playground to just lay and chill.
I've made lovely friends. I've achieved something

A way to remember the fallen

Isn't it funny how this little project of ours has grown and grown and grown.
The school was approached and asked if we would like to do something to tidy up the local memorial garden. It  isn't  very big so it's actually a lovely project for the children to be involved with. 
I do wonder what they will think about it when it is finished.
It's made me really think about rememberance day and why it's important to me - but I wonder what children think about it? Do they just apply it to modern day conflicts or do they think about the sacrifices men and women made in the Second World War for us to live as we do today? Such a small garden bringing so many questions into my head.

This blog will be a bit of a before and after I'm afraid, you will have to wait for the after.
Below are pictures of how it looks now.




As always the wonderful Enfield Wyevale have supplied us with some beautiful plants that will hopefully transform this small garden into a fitting memorial for all the wonderful men and women from days gone by to current conflicts so bravely serve us and our country.


https://www.wyevalegardencentres.co.uk/

http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/

Up cycling is just the best

What are your thoughts on recycling and up cycling?
Aren't they just the same thing, using things that have been used before?
Whether you put your cardboard and paper things in the box for the bin men to collect or get a bike off eBay that was 'pre loved', isn't it all the same?

Well I've learnt a huge lesson this week about up cycling or recycling or revamping or any other title you want to give it. It's all about your vision.

Our vision is to create lovely outdoor classroom areas for the children and teachers to enjoy. When I was offered old garden furniture, although I instantly said "yes please" I did wonder what we could do with them! So off I went and collected old wooden chairs and a metal chair and table set.
Once back at school we put the table and three of the chairs in what seemed the most obvious place - under the trees. Looked quite sweet and would make a lovely little reading den, but something didn't sit quite right with me, it looked a little...... Sad.

But after a good rummage around in the shed I was rather pleased with their transformation.
What do you think?

So I've discovered the joy of up cycling. The table needs to be covered as well. Think it's fair to say that it's created a lovely little area for the children to go and read.

Big thank you a go out to Nicola's mum for passing onto us her garden furniture.

Think it's fair to say, we are looking forward to our next up cycling challenge - watch this space!

Can't wait for our next project 👏🏻😄

A tyre is just a tyre - right?

So the brick planter thing has a new lease of life. So what next?

The following winter bought about lots of change at school and I put to the new headteacher an idea I had to do something with the rest of the front area of the school and if it would be ok to have an afterschool gardening club. She agreed whole heartedly.
I will always be grateful for her support and encouragement because ideas are just ideas unless someone believes in you enough to make those ideas come to life.
Suddenly what had started out as a bug bear was turning into a real project!
I had no budget, no real idea what to do next and if anyone would want to help me!
Then fate lent a little hand in the form of a slow puncture. Yes you read right. A slow puncture.
So there I was standing by the entrance watching my little car have her wheel replaced and as I look to my left, there it was, the next project. After explaining what I had in mind, the man at the tyre place was happy to give us as many used tyres as we needed. Now all I needed was to get them back to school and get them cleaned!
The question was could I do this on my own? This I doubted very much, but to my surprise when I mentioned this to a few mum's they enthusiastically offered to help.

So, half term arrived and so did the tyres and decking and shingle and paint and bricks and pallets and lots of other stuff!!!! And so did a small army of children and their parents and what fun we had. Well, the kids had far more fun than the parents to be fair.

And that's where the tyre planters came to life.

What did I learn that day? If you tell children to get messy, to make mess, they seem to be quite cautious to actually do it. Once they get going - they are brilliant tyre washers. So now I have clean tyres and dirty children, happy, dirty children I should point out.

After trailing Pinterest for hours the once grubby plain tyres where transformed.

So how much did these cost? A project no matter how big or small is always about the cost.

Tyres - FREE. Thank you Loughton Tyres, Langston Road, Loughton, IG10. http;//www.loughtontyresltd.co.uk

Paint - FREE. Thank you Wickes, Langston Road, Loughton IG10 3TQ. Thank you Feraz and Kerrie.

http;//wickes.co.uk

Soil - FREE. Thank you Epping Building Supplied.

http'//eppingpavingandbuildingsupplies.co.uk

And finally the plants - FREE. Thank you to Trish the community champion at Tesco, Southend Road and to David at Wyevale, Enfield. http;//wyevalegardencentres.co.uk Enfield Branch.

Total cost - NIL

Total impact - 100% - the children love them.

They are sought after areas to be looked after by the gardening club members and make for a very inviting entrance to the school gardens.

Of course the question was, what next?

You can follow us on twitter @Thewellywizards - A school gardening group on an epic adventure.

A shout out for brick planter fairies

Wanted to have a shout out for the two lovely ladies who sponsored the brick planter.

Leah van Zyl - a brilliant photographer, for all occasions.
http://www.leahvanzyl.com/contact.html

POPDANCE - brilliant holiday camps, full of fun and of course a finale of a show! 

https://popdance.co.uk/
This summer holidays dates are now available
Contact Rachel - rachel@popdance.co.uk

Changing things that bug you - can make such a difference!

Some things you walk past every day and they bug you!

Simple as that. It could be a fence panel on the way to work that just doesn't sit right. It could be that the post box by the station faces away from you as you walk up to it. It could be a million and one silly little things that you have no control over, yet they really, really, bug you.

This was the case at my daughters school. Everyday at the front of the school I passed a brick, square planter type thing. It had obviously been some project done by previous pupils. It was just what I say it was, a brick planter thing. As such, all that was happening with it was that rubbish was flying into it and it just, bugged me. 

I didn't do anything to change it so that it wouldn't bug me for the whole year my daughter was in reception. I didn't do anything for the winter term that she was in year one. The spring term seemed to overwhelm me. I just couldn't stand it any more. Literally, I couldn't stand it! 

But what do you do about these things? 

Not really my problem is it?

Not really any of my business to be perfectly honest. Wasn't complaining about something that bugged me, a little childish to say the least!

There had to be a sensible solution to this silly, petty, pointless problem that was causing me such angst. 

One day my brain just popped. As I walked past the headmaster on the way to class I was overwhelmed by the need to do something. "Good morning" I said all smiley and cheerful. "Could I talk to you about the brick planter at the front, if you have time".

Now most parents I guess would be asking about their child's reading ability. New uniform issues. The next school trip. No, not me I wanted to talk about a planter. Graciously he listened as I shared my irritation about this odd square area. I put it to him that if I could get a few people to sponsor it, just enough to buy flowers, would that be ok? I held my breath thinking was his answer going to be something along the lines of "are you for real, there are children who come to school without having had a nutritious breakfast and all your worried about is a pile of bricks" but to my surprise he was delighted and said if I could do that then go ahead. 

Yes.... A solution. 

Oh blimey, I realised I needed to find people to sponsor it, where did I start with that one? Would people want to help out? I could only ask was the attitude I would take with this one. If you don't ask you don't know as my dad would say. So I asked around. Two fabulous friends who had their own businesses thought it was a lovely idea and I ended up with enough money to plant up the brick planter and re do the two straggly hanging baskets. 

Doesn't sound a lot does it, but that was the start of an amazing, ongoing journey that has shown me what people can do if they work together and most of all laugh together. Highly appropriate when people say, from small acorns big oaks grow. That planter now makes me smile every day I pass it. It's bricks, so it has no emotion I know, but it's responsible for so much more than just letting daffodils grow in it! 

This blog is the story of our school gardening project. The story of how people giving a little  of their time can achieve big things. I hope, that as you read about our story, it may inspire you to do a little something in the knowledge that it could be achieving something huge! 

Of course the brick planter has to have a story, doesn't it? Maybe that's for another day.
So big thanks go today to the wonderfully talented Leah Van Zyl and uber creative Rachel Le Moeligou, without them the pile bricks wouldn't have bloomed.
https://popdance.co.uk
http://www.leahvanzyl.com